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National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya hosted his first staff town hall on Monday.

The event, held on the NIH’s main campus in Bethesda, Maryland, was packed with nearly 500 attendees and even more individuals tuning in online to watch Bhattacharya answer some of the 1,200 submitted questions, Science reported.

‘If it’s true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic, and if you look at polls of the American people, that’s what most people believe.’

Yet when Bhattacharya attempted to answer a question about the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak, many staffers fled the room in apparent protest.

Ahead of his response, Bhattacharya noted that some of those attending the event would likely disagree with his perspective.

“It’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings. And it’s also possible that the NIH partly sponsored that research,” Bhattacharya told the crowd.

He appeared to pause as dozens of NIH staffers stood up and left the room.

“It’s nice to have free speech. You’re welcome, you guys,” he said, apparently addressing the protesters.

Some attendees who remained responded with applause.

Bhattacharya continued, “If it’s true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic, and if you look at polls of the American people, that’s what most people believe. And I’ve looked at the scientific evidence I believe in.”

“What we have to do is make sure that we do not engage in research that’s posing any risk to any human populations,” he added.

RELATED: Vindictive researcher at high-security NIH lab risked deadly outbreak over petty dispute with coworker: Bhattacharya

National Institutes of Health Director Jayanta Bhattacharya, U.S. President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Anything else?

A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s minority staff report drafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed that President Donald Trump’s administration had “effectively” slashed the NIH’s budget by $2.7 billion in the first three months of the year.

“Trump’s war on science is an attack against anyone who has ever loved someone with cancer,” Sanders said. “The American people do not want us to slash cancer research in order to give more tax breaks for billionaires.”

The Department of Health and Human Services has labeled Sanders’ claims as “unequivocally false.”

“The report released by his office today is a politically motivated distortion that undermines the thousands of dedicated public health professionals across HHS, who remain steadfast in their commitment to delivering results for the American people,” HHS stated.

RELATED: Trump’s NIH closes Fauci’s apparent puppy-torture lab after 40 years of sadistic experiments

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